Palo Alto Weekly

Palo Alto, Gunn look forward
to CCS after Vikings sweep

Both teams looking for even faster times in section finals;
M-A freshman Van Linge sets school record at the PAL trials

by Keith Peters

The Palo Alto and Gunn girls staged another stirring battle while the Palo Alto boys atoned for last season's stumble from the top. All in all, the 2011 SCVAL De Anza Division swimming and diving championships turned out well for the local teams last Friday at Saratoga High.

The Paly girls won their ninth straight league title with 585 points with Gunn second with 442. Both teams set a handful of records and produced quality times that will only go lower once the top athletes shave and taper for the Central Coast Section championships on May 21.

The Paly boys, upended in last season's league finals, made up for that by scoring 434 points to hold off defending champ Monta Vista (366) and win their sixth division crown in coach Danny Dye's seven years at the school.

"It's been a fun week and a great day," Dye said, "and I'm real proud of my teams.

"The girls, I wasn't as concerned. Gunn is a good team and swam a great meet. Mark (Hernandez) always gets them ready. But, the (Paly) girls were just ready. As for the boys, I had no idea what to expect. But, with the two new freshmen (Andrew Liang and Willie Lee), the team really came together."

While Dye and his assistant coaches earned a ritual dunking after the meet, Friday's title sweep was just another big step toward the section finals in two weeks. That's when things get really exciting when times drop like leaves on a windy day.

Friday's finals, however, produced some great times nonetheless. The best effort came, appropriately enough, from Saratoga senior Adam Hinshaw. He used his home pool to break the oldest league record —a 1:40.50 time in the 200 free by the legendary Mark Spitz in 1968. Hinshaw swam 1:40.40 to erase the 43-year-old mark.

Palo Alto junior Jasmine Tosky also broke a meet record, but it wasn't quite as old. She clocked a sizzling 1:45.98 to win the girls' 200 free and lower her 1:47.86 time from 2010. It was Tosky's second-fastest time ever in the event and it earned her automatic All-American status. She also won the 500 free easily in 4:46.18, fastest time in the CCS this season. More importantly, Tosky anchored two trailing relays to victory.

The 200 free relay squad was trailing until Tosky hit the water and overhauled Gunn's Casey Lincoln with a sizzling 22.83 anchor as Paly won in 1:37.74. In the meet-ending 400 free relay, Gunn held an even bigger lead when Tosky began her stirring 48.83 anchor and passed Gunn's Christine Prior in the final yards. Paly clocked 3:32.84 for first and Gunn went 3:33.65 for second, both extremely fast times.

Gunn junior Rachael Acker was on both relays, but made up for those defeats with a pair of school records. While finishing second to Tosky in the 200 free, Acker went 1:51.00 to break Jane Abraham's 1:51.71 mark from 1979. In the 100 free, Acker held off teammate Julia Ama and broke her school mark of 50.66 with an automatic All-American time of 50.47. Ama won the 50 free in 23.50.

Gunn also got a victory from senior Emily Watkins in the 100 breaststroke, her non-taper personal best of 1:06.85 just missing the school record.

"Our girls did well, and we can still clean up a number of things," said Gunn coach Mark Hernandez. "We're ready to do even better at CCS."

Palo Alto also had its share of winners. In addition to Tosky, junior Margaret Wenzlau took the 100 fly in 57.32 with freshman Jayna Wittenbrink second in 58.69 and sophomore Molly Zebker third (58.85). Senior Sarah Liang won the 200 IM with a season best of 2:07.82 and senior Sabrina Lee cruised to a 57.54 win in the 100 back in addition to helping the Vikings sweep all three relays. Wenzlau, Tosky and Liang also did double-duty on the winning relays.

Paly senior Grace Greenwood won the 1-meter diving earlier in the week.

In the boys' meet, Paly junior Byron Sanborn won the 200 IM with a personal best and came from behind to take the 100 breast to help propel the Vikings.

Sanborn won the 200 IM in 1:53.05, improving upon his No. 3 time in school history, after helping the Vikings take second in the opening 200 medley relay (1:37.39, No. 4 in school history). He later won a thrilling battle with Lynbrook's AJ Zavala in the breaststroke, trailing the entire race before finally taking the lead in the last 10 yards to win in 58.39 with Zavala second in 58.44. Sanborn clocked a sizzling 46.62 anchor leg on the second-place 400 free relay team that clocked a season-best 3:12.95, losing by just .34 seconds.

Paly freshman William Lee was a big winner in the 100 back in a personal best of 52.23, winning by three seconds. That ranks him No. 2 in school history. Fellow freshman Andrew Liang moved out of the 50 and 100 freestyles in into the 200 free and 500 free where he placed second and third, respectively, with excellent times. Sophomore Cole Plambeck won the diving earlier in the week.

Gunn senior Ben Hendricks set a personal best by breaking 50.00 in the 100 for the first time while taking fifth in 49.33 while junior Gavin Kerr broke 5:00 in the 500 free for the first time with a fourth-place finish of 4:57.38. Gunn junior Will Thorson took third in the 100 fly in a CCS time of 54.56.

In addition to all the winners and top placers, both Paly and Gunn excelled thanks to countless swimmers who picked up important points not only in the finals, but the consolation finals as well.

The Peninsula Athletic League, meanwhile, will hold its finals on Saturday at Burlingame High starting at 1 p.m.

Menlo-Atherton is the defending champion in all four divisions and Bears' coach Tom McRae is hoping the influx of talent from last season's frosh-soph championship teams will help make a difference at the varsity level.

"We are looking very good again this year," McRae said. "On the varsity girls' side, we added some great new freshman with Maddie Pont, Kindle Van Linge and Nicole Zanolli — all with CCS top-16 goals. Varsity boys are looking amazing."

The M-A boys have been swimming much faster times during their 7-0 dual-meet season than last season and have the first-place points and depth to contend for another crown. Senior Kei Masuda is back to defend his 200 IM title and senior Nick Henze returns to defend his 100 free crown. Masuda is the No. 1 seed in the 100 fly (53.76) and Henze is top-seeded in the 200 free (1:46.17). M-A senior Evan Navarro, meanwhile, is the No. 1 seed in the 100 free (48.98) and No. 2 in the 200 free.

Masuda would be No. 1 in the 100 back if he chose to swim it after breaking a 37-year-old school record with a 54.29 last week against Burlingame. The top-seeded time for the league trials is 55.56.

For the girls, M-A returns 2010 finalists Katherine Liang, Emily Dorst, Brittany Krappe, Holly Chen, and Danielle Flanagan. The addition of the three freshmen, however, may help the Bears hold on to their title. Pont is seeded No. 2 in the 100 free, Zanolli is No. 3 in the 500 free and Van Linge is No. 3 in the 100 fly and No. 4 in the 200 IM.

During Wednesday's first day of trials, M-A's Van Linge set a school record in the 100 fly while finishing second in 58.84. Van Linge's time eclipsed the previous mark of 59.53 by Danielle Hildebrandt in 2005.